T60 or Z61t?

I'm currently shopping for a thinkpad to replace my Dell laptop, which is simply too heavy and running too hot. I'm a grad student, so I might haul the laptop around a bit. I like the weight/specs of the Z61t, but am really skeptical since it doesn't have dedicated RAM for the GPU.

This is what I need it for: I'm not a gamer, but will have to run some small scale simulations (smaller research stuff) every once in a while that will take ~10min of processing. Right now I assume that the dual processor will help tremendously with the computer's multitasking capability, since only one processor should be locked up by the task and I can keep working on the other one (please correct me if I'm wrong).

For the simulations I might need quite a bit of ram, and that's why I'm worried about sharing it. Can I compensate by just bumping up the amount of ram or will the performance suffer since both GPU/CPU are trying to access it at the same time?

In case I decide for the T60 with the ATI graphics card, will the X1300 do, or would you recommend the X1400? (I'm planning on getting 14.1" SXGA+). BTW: what's the current status in Linux graphics driver support? Will there be issues with Xgl?

Finally, heat dissipation will be an issue: I just read that the T60 stays relatively cool, but I don't have an idea about the Z61t.

Again, I like the weight of the Z61t and the widescreen might be a plus for watching DVD's (and a minus whenever I'm actually working ). But on the other hand, the T60 might be the better notebook for my needs. I'd really appreciate some feedback.

 

Yes increasing the memory will help, but probably not as much as a dedicated card. What simulation are you running? Perhaps it does not need that good of a card.

 

I'll be using Matlab quite a bit and some other C++ code that I'm writing myself (could potentially use a lot of RAM). Basically a lot of solving differential equations and maybe some longish compilation phases. And ideally I'd be working on other stuff while this is running in the background.

 

I am a researcher too and I am using matlab quite a lot I have a 14.1" SXGA+ T60 with T2500 processor and ATI X1300 graphics card. In addition to matlab, I use several simulation softwares on my laptop. The performance is great. Also, ATI X1300 seems enough for the use of hardware accelarated opengl graphics in Matlab. I only wish I have 2 gigs of RAM instead of 1 gigs. When it comes to weight, weight is just right. I carry it in a small backpack from home to office at least twice a day. I can't say I feel the weight I ran some basic benchmarks such as sciencemark on it. You may check my becnhmark results and several other comments such as the screen quality from this thread
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=57417

 

Just saw on the Lenovo site that they are having a $200 off sale on select laptops (its called the Back to School Sale, check under special offers). The T60 (model 2623D6U) is now only $1,399. You can also get an extra 512MB of RAM free or 1GB for $99.

If only I hadn't just purchased a T60 on eBay...

Rob

 

I hope the $200 rebate comes back, that was a good price.

 

Great deal! I wish more T60 models are available here in the Philippines... But, anyway, I'm very much content with what I have...

 

Irfan, it looks like we're using our laptops for the same purpose. I want to be able to keep working while I'm running a simulation in the background, so do things improve with the dual core or am I just being naive? (My hunch is that without parallel processing, I should only have one CPU locked up - on my current machine I can't even properly use the shell whenever something's running.) During simulations, does the notebook start heating up a lot or does it always remain relatively cool, as Asics said? What about noise, and is it correct that the fan stays always on?

Finally, what I take from your thread is that the screen could be better. Is this a minor issue or a real inconvenience?

 

Thanks a lot - this seems to be a really good price. I'm still waiting on a quote from our computer store on campus - I'm curious whether they'll give me a different price.

By the way, does anybody know what the EPP price for the 2623D6U is? And what about the 2007C4U/2007C5U?

 

I think the EPP price of the 2623D6U is $1,299 (normally $1,519, at least from what I've seen).

I don't think those other ones are part of the sale, and they come with international warranties, so the prices will probably be higher. Also looks like the only difference is the T2500 (both C*U models) in lieu of the T2400 and the x1400 (C5U model) in lieu of the x1300.

I'd save the extra money you'll likely have to spend and can get the 2623D6U. With the sale and EPP its one killer deal.

Rob